The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan (MoD) says the cross-border shelling on Afghan provinces along the Durand Line also inflicted casualties on the civilians.

MoD spokesman Gen. Dawlat Waziri informed in this regard during a press conference and shortly after the UN mission in Afghanistan released its latest report regarding the civilian casualties in 2017.

Gen. Waziri further added that thousands of artillery shells were fired on the Afghan soil from the other side of the Durand Line during the year 2017.

He said several people were killed or wounded during the shelling but did not elaborate further in this regard.

In regards to the civilian casualties during the operations, Gen. Waziri said necessary precautions have been considered for the coming fighting season.

UNAMA saya total of 10,453 civilian casualties – 3,438 people killed and 7,015 injured – were documented in the 2017 Annual Report released today by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office.

The report by UNAMA further states that the second leading cause of civilian casualties in 2017 was ground engagements between anti-government elements and pro-government forces, although there was a decrease of 19 per cent from the record levels seen in 2016.

The report attributes close to two-thirds of all casualties (65 per cent) to anti-government elements: 42 per cent to the Taliban, 10 per cent to Daesh / Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP), and 13 per cent to undetermined and other anti-government elements.

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